The Subtle Knife

A traveler on a mission arrives at an ancient city under siege, but his commitment wavers when he takes in an orphaned little girl.

Short story, 7,700 words. Apologies to Philip Pullman - I'm bad with titles, okay? Fantasy drama, very loosely inspired by the siege of Constantinople. The human cost of war; can two opposing sides ever find common ground? And so on.

This is available for free elsewhere on the web, so enter "0" and get it for nothing, by all means. But if you liked it and want to throw me some beer money in return, I'd certainly appreciate it.